Monarda (monar da)

[NL. (Linnæus, 1737), named after N. Monardés, a Spanish physician and botanist of the 16th century.] A genus of labiate plants, type of the tribe Monardeæ, characterized by the anthers hav Branch of Oswego Tea ( Monarda didyma ) , with flowers. ing a very small connective, the cells confluent into one, and by having a tubular calyx with 3830 fifteen nerves, which is almost equally five toothed. They are odorous erect herbs with entire or toothed leaves, and quite large flowers arranged in a few terminal or whorled heads, surrounded by many bracts, and varying in color, being bright-red, purple, white, and all natives of North America. M. punctata, the American in one species pale-yellow. About 7 species are known, horsemint, is stimulant and carminative. M. didyma, the Oswego tea, or bee-balm, has bright-scarlet flowers. M. fistulosa is the wild bergamot.